History and Mission Statement
The W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library is located on the second floor of Mary Harmon Bryant Hall, 500 Hackberry Lane, and the A.S. Williams III Americana Collection is located on the third floor of the Gorgas Library on The University of Alabama campus.
The W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library is located on the second floor of Mary Harmon Bryant Hall, 500 Hackberry Lane, and the A.S. Williams III Americana Collection is located on the fourth floor of the Amelia Gayle Gorgas Library on The University of Alabama campus.
The Hoole Library was organized in 1945 by Dr. William Stanley Hoole shortly after he became University Librarian and was named in his honor in 1977. In 1993, the library moved from the fourth floor of the Gorgas Library to its current location. The A.S. Williams III Americana Collection was organized at The University of Alabama in 2010 and named for its donor, A.S. Williams III of Birmingham, Alabama.
The reading room and lobby of Hoole Library features exhibitions on a regular basis. Special Collections materials are also regularly on exhibition at Gorgas Library, in the second floor Pearce Foyer.
Mission Statement:
The University of Alabama Libraries Special Collections is committed to acquiring, processing, preserving, and making available primary sources and other rare materials that support the teaching and research missions of The University of Alabama. In addition to documenting the historical and cultural experience of the state and people of Alabama and The University of Alabama, our collections focus on Southern history and culture; exploration and settlement of territory in the Gulf of Mexico; Civil War and Reconstruction; slavery, abolition, and emancipation; and African American history with special emphasis on the Civil Rights Movement.